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David Mumpower: The bleakness of Christopher Nolan's Gotham City has been a key selling point for the trilogy. The authenticity of a place so imperiled that the presence of Batman would be welcome is why fans of the character have celebrated this interpretation. The problem is that a real life event of true horror is now inexorably linked with Nolan's final Batman movie. This creates a smothering effect for consumers as escaping real life through escapist entertainment is a key reason movies are so popular. Trying to remove the events of Aurora from your head by attending a movie is tricky in this regard.

To wit, I watched a screening of Savages the other days. A strangely behaving gentleman kept puttering around at the front of the theater and I must confess that I did develop a strategy for the best way to tackle him if he pulled out artillery. I say this as someone who was not at all deterred from attending movies last week. I've seen five films in theaters since the incident ten days ago. Still, I would be lying if I stated that the madman's actions did not have an impact on me.

This is the problem that The Dark Knight Rises is facing. It is the final entry in a dark storyline that has been celebrated for its unwillingness to compromise. People did not want this movie to be happier than the previous ones, at least not until 10 days ago. Instead, Nolan's final Batman offering is the most depressing yet. That subject matter is unfortunate in the wake of recent events.

The impact of this is unmistakable. Estimates for the film's first Friday dropped from $80-$90 million to an actual take of $75.7 million. The film's opening weekend take went from an estimate of $180 million to an actual take of $160 million. Its first four weekdays fell $16 million of The Dark Knight. That's $35 million in lost revenue in only seven days or $5 million a day. And I say this as someone who generally refuses to speculate about theoretical numbers. The impact is that undeniable.

I also have quantified that this impact exists beyond The Dark Knight Rises. The per-location averages for top ten titles in release this week versus last week speaks volumes about the fact that what happened in Aurora did have an impact, which is just common sense. The presence of The Olympics should have been what affected titles negatively. Instead, they universally recovered more than expected. This indicates that last weekend's totals were deflated.

Shalimar Sahota: I remember tuning in to CNN on the day the tragedy occurred, and they were already calling it "Batman Shooting Massacre." The way I see it the word "Batman" doesn't need to be there, but given how it's been spun the film will now unfortunately become synonymous with what happened. What saddens me is that I can talk to people about The Dark Knight Rises, share what I liked, what I thought worked, what didn't... and when doing so I can't help but take onboard that there are a small group of fans out there just like me, and they can't do that.

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